Weeks v. Weeks

29 So. 3d 80, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 860, 2009 WL 4263807
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 1, 2009
Docket2006-CA-01287-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 29 So. 3d 80 (Weeks v. Weeks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weeks v. Weeks, 29 So. 3d 80, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 860, 2009 WL 4263807 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

BARNES, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. The motion for rehearing is granted. The previous opinion of this Court is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor.

¶ 2. Roland Weeks and Deborah Weeks return for their second appeal of their marital dissolution. In the first appeal, this Court remanded the case to allow the chancellor to make findings regarding Deborah’s requests for periodic alimony, medical insurance, and attorney’s fees.1 Deborah now appeals from the chancellor’s judgment after remand.

¶ 3. Deborah contends that the chancellor erred (1) in finding that Roland was required to pay a fixed rate for Deborah’s health insurance, (2) in finding that Roland had complied with a court order requiring him to maintain a life insurance policy for Deborah, (3) in finding that Roland has complied with his child support obligations, (4) in refusing to order retroactive modification of child support, (5) in refusing to modify his award of alimony, and (6) in [83]*83failing to award Deborah’s attorney’s fees for her appeal and the proceedings after remand.

¶ 4. Finding error, we affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

FACTS

¶ 5. Deborah was granted a divorce from Roland on April 4, 2001. Since then, they have been in constant litigation over the financial aspects of their divorce. Deborah received her proceeds from the division of the marital estate in 2003.

¶ 6. In Weeks I, this Court upheld the chancellor’s division of assets and remanded the case for the chancellor to award periodic alimony to Deborah. Weeks I, 832 So.2d at 588(¶ 21). We also ordered the chancellor to consider whether Roland should be required to pay for Deborah’s medical insurance as part of alimony. Id. at 588(¶ 22). In addition, we instructed the chancellor to analyze the factors found in McKee v. McKee, 418 So.2d 764, 767 (Miss.1982) for a determination of whether Deborah was entitled to an award of attorney’s fees. Weeks I, 832 So.2d at 588(¶ 24).

¶ 7. After remand, the chancellor held a hearing on these issues and entered a judgment awarding Deborah three thousand dollars per month as periodic alimony. Roland was also ordered to pay $516 per month for Deborah’s health insurance premium. Further, Roland was ordered to maintain life insurance policies on himself in the amount of three hundred thousand dollars each, with Deborah and their daughter, Alex, named as irrevocable beneficiaries. The chancellor reviewed the McKee factors and held that Deborah should be awarded twenty-five thousand dollars in attorney’s fees from Roland, subject to a credit for seventy-five hundred dollars that Roland had previously paid. The attorney’s fees were intended to be only for the divorce proceedings, rather than for any of the proceedings after remand. The chancellor found that both Deborah and Roland possessed net assets worth over one million dollars after the division of the marital estate.

¶ 8. The chancellor’s judgment also addressed Deborah’s petition for modification of custody and child support, which was based on events that occurred following the first appeal. The parties agreed that they would have joint legal custody of Alex and that Deborah would have primary physical custody. The chancellor found that Roland’s monthly child support obligation by statute was $1,890 and that he would also be responsible for all of Alex’s college expenses, including any “sorority dues and fees, as well as her motor vehicle and insurance, health insurance, meal plan, and books.” Roland’s obligation to pay was premised upon Alex attending an instate college. The chancellor held that any difference in the amount between the $1,890 per month and the actual amount of money that Roland expends in a given month for Alex’s education should go directly to Alex to use for other college expenses. The chancellor also ordered that “[djuring the summer months, should Alex reside with [Deborah], then Roland will pay to [Deborah] as child support the pro rata share of $1,890 per month child support.”

¶ 9. Following the chancellor’s judgment after remand, numerous motions were filed by the parties. The chancellor held a five-day hearing on the pending motions and issued a final order on June 22, 2006. The chancellor denied Deborah’s petitions to modify Roland’s obligations for alimony and child support. The chancellor declined to award additional attorney’s fees to either party. The chancellor also denied Deborah’s petitions to hold Roland in contempt for failure to pay child support, [84]*84health and life insurance premiums, and life and automobile insurance premiums for Alex.

¶ 10. Additional facts will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Health Insurance Premium Rate

¶11. Deborah argues that the chancellor’s order requiring Roland to pay a fixed amount of $516 per month for her health insurance is in error. Deborah contends that Roland should be responsible for payment of any increases in the amount of her premium, rather than for only the fixed amount of $516.

¶ 12. In Deborah’s first appeal to this Court, we held that payments for medical insurance could be awarded as a type of alimony and remanded the case for the chancellor to consider the issue of Deborah’s medical insurance. In the judgment after remand, the chancellor ruled: “[Deborah] currently has enrolled in the Mississippi Insurance Risk Pool at a monthly premium of $516.00. Roland will pay this for [Deborah] as a part of his alimony obligation in addition to those sums previously designated as periodic alimony.” The chancellor further held that Roland was not responsible for any deductibles or co-payments related to Deborah’s future medical treatment.

¶ 13. Following the judgment after remand, Deborah’s insurance premium increased to $639 per month, but Roland refused to pay anything above the $516 per month. Deborah challenged Roland’s interpretation of the judgment by filing a motion to clarify. In his response, Roland insisted that the judgment made clear he was required to pay only $516 per month and no more. On June 2, 2006, the chancellor entered a ruling from the bench regarding the health insurance premium: “The judgment on remand ordered that Roland pay a set amount which was based on what the premium was at that time. He was never ordered to pay the insurance premium, per se.” The chancellor’s final order held that Roland was “required only to pay $516.00.”

¶ 14. Deborah argues that the judgment after remand is ambiguous because it is unclear whether Roland is required to pay the exact amount of her monthly insurance premium or the fixed amount of $516. She now calls upon this Court to interpret the meaning of the chancellor’s orders. In doing so, we conduct a de novo review. This Court has held:

[When] the resolution must be reached via the interpretation of a divorce judgment, our task is to view the terms of the document, find their legal meaning, and adjudge their enforceability. Webster v. Webster, 566 So.2d 214, 216 (Miss.1990). The familiar manifest error/substantial evidence rules have no application to such questions of law. Id. Consequently, our review is de novo,

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Bluebook (online)
29 So. 3d 80, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 860, 2009 WL 4263807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weeks-v-weeks-missctapp-2009.